The Queen's Watchdog
by Mein Liebling
Summary: [Victorian!AU] Alphard hated how his sister never told him about things until the last minute, but perhaps this new assistant of his wont be so bad.


It was sometime around the third of August, in the year of our Lord, 1887, that it came to Alphard's attention that his sister's nephew was coming to stay with him for an indefinite amount of time, and that he was arriving that day. Alphard, of course, was seething about his sister not telling him (she never does until the last minute, he would have thought being a married woman with two children she would have been better at keeping track of time and telling people important things, but he guessed that his hopes were far too high) and ordered his butler to send a carriage for the boy who would be arriving at the carriage station in about a half an hour or so. Meanwhile, while Alphard's butler hasted to get going, he ordered two of his maids to get the old bedroom near his cleaned up for the boy to stay in.

As he reread the letter that had just arrived that morning, Alphard sighed and patted his face with a handkerchief, silently inspecting what information he had about the boy.

_My dearest brother Alphard,_

_I am sorry about the sudden intrusion on your self-forced solitary confinement, but it has come to my notice that my sister-in-law would like to train her son to be well-versed in the politics of our country. I, being a considerate person, offered to her the chance send her son to you for you to train him, since you do run the government no matter how subtly. _

_The boy's name is Evan Rosier. He is currently fourteen years old, and from what I've seen of him, is quite a bright young lad. He is completely fluent in reading and writing, and he can do both simple and slightly complex math. He is very quick and eager to learn and it would be a good influence on both of you to spend some time with one another._

_I think you'll like him, brother, he has just as bad of a temper as yours, and makes some horrid jokes that I believe you are fond of._

_Evan shall be arriving on August 3__rd__, around tea time if all goes well during his travelling across these parts._

_Thank you so much for kindly taking him, Alphard._

_Sincerely,_

_Your loving sister, _

_Walburga_

Alphard cursed silently the woman, who always did this sort of thing, and turned on his heel and left his study, his shoes clacking lightly against the smoothly carved marble of his main staircase. It wasn't the first time she had pulled something like this on him (except the last few times it was family vacations or hiding a few fugitives) but he would prefer to have notice post haste. He would have to warn his whole staff that there would be another person staying there- an immature fourteen year old boy, from what he gathered from Walburga's polite words- and tell them to do whatever Evan said within reason.

Curse that blasted woman.

Then the clock chimed three around him, and then four, and finally around dinner time there was a knock on the door signaling that someone had _finally _arrived. Alphard made a shooing motion to his servants to open the door, and the young boys did so, almost tripping over their own feet but making it to the door without anyone falling over. On a silent count of three, they both opened the doors and there standing in the doorway was Alphard's faithful butler, holding a small suitcase, and an average sized teenage boy looking rather hot and uncomfortable in the large collar he was wearing.

Alphard studied his nephew with cold grey eyes. Evan had black hair- something that was a symbol of the Black family, that they both belonged to- and instead of grey eyes, he had blue eyes that were like a foamy seaside. He had a small mole under his left eye and his ears were a little bit too large for his head. He was, as said before, average sized, perhaps a little lanky, but that was nothing puberty wouldn't solve. He barely came up to Alphard's shoulders, although Alphard was not what you would consider 'short', and from what the government's dog could see, he wasn't anything special.

He was bright, though, from Walburga's letter. Extremely so, and that would make him useful.

Evan looked his uncle in the eyes and waited for Alphard to greet him. Alphard stared at Evan with narrowed eyes and waited to see what Evan would do.

The two of them stood like that for about thirty seconds, making all the servants near them shuffle awkwardly and whisper to the others behind their hands, before Alphard let out a 'tch' and held out his hand to be shaken. "Alphard Black."

Evan shook the hand, before dropping it like hot lava. "Evan Rosier."

"You won't be slacking under my roof, I expect you to be up promptly by sunrise and you won't be going to bed until sundown. You will not complain about what I have you doing, and if I hear one word out of you that could be considered so, I will send you back to your mother with your future in ruins. Do you understand?"

"Crystal, sir."

Alphard let out a puff of breath, before giving the fourteen year old something that could barely be considered a smile. "Good. Welcome to my home, Evan."

* * *

_For the Ten Day challenge- write your OTP._

_I do not own Harry Potter whatsoever._


End file.
